The present invention relates generally to the field of supporting racks for reading material or book holders, and more particularly to such a supporting rack or book holder which may be mounted directly onto or near a bed so that a person reclining in the bed may comfortably read material supported in the rack or holder.
A wide variety of book holders, supporting racks, bookstands, and other similar reading material retaining devices are, of course, well known in the art. Additionally, many such prior art devices have been proposed for attachment to beds so that persons in a reclining position would be able to comfortably view and read the material supported by such devices. Such known prior art devices, however, suffer from a number of disadvantages believed to be overcome by the teachings of the present invention.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,914 discloses a book support rack which may be mounted at one end directly on a bedframe, carrying at the other end an appropriate rack for the reading material to be supported for viewing by a person reclining in the bed. The device shown in this prior patent requires the use of a particularly designed supporting base having a screw clamp so that the base may be mounted to a bedframe. Accordingly, this device can only be used with bedframes having the required shape and configuration upon which the clamp could be attached. No provision is made for attaching the device to a wall or other supporting structure adjacent the bed. The book rack disclosed in this patent includes a pair of arms connected to each other and to the base by elbow joints, the support rack being connected to one of the arms by a universal joint. Accordingly, continued use of the device requiring periodic repositioning and movement of the arms with respect to each other over a prolonged period of time will likely result in undesirable wear in the joints and ultimate failure. Because of the elbow and universal joint construction, movement of only one of the supporting arms will consequently necessitate movement of either the other supporting arm or the supporting rack in order to maintain the same angle of inclination of the reading material carried on the rack. Unnecessary use of the various joints will therefore result.
The known prior supporting devices also have other limitations with respect to the thickness of the book or reading material that can be supported in the holder. Further, the typical known book racks have supporting structure which requires that a book be held fully open with opposing leaves positioned at approximately 180.degree. to each other. In other words, the pages of a book are maintained in a "flat" position which may result in undersirable damage to the bookbinding and also resulting in a difficult position for viewing all the printed words on the page.
Additionally, prior book holding devices have used a variety of spring mounted arms, spring clips, or other similar retaining devices for holding the pages in a fully open position for reading. This type of spring or clip arrangement frequently interferes with viewing a full page and causes difficulties in turning pages.
Other prior art devices, such as known from U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,692,237 and 2,359,895 require relatively complicated supporting structures rendering usage of the device difficult for reading and readjustment purposes. As with other prior devices, the devices of these patents require that the book holder or supporting rack be mounted directly on the bed. Any movement of the person reclining in the bed or movement of the bed from any external forces will result in movement of the supporting frame and movement of the book holder thus interrupting the viewer's concentration.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a book holder for supporting a book or other reading material in a position for viewing by a person reclining in a bed which overcomes the various disadvantages of the prior art.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide such a book holder which may be mounted either on a headboard or directly on a supporting wall independent of the headboard so that any movement in the bed will not be transmitted to the book holder.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a book holder of the foregoing type which is constructed of supporting arm levers pivotally connected with each other by a connector assembly thus avoiding the use of elbow or universal joints which may wear out over extended periods of use. A further feature of the present invention, as a result of the use of lever arms connected by a connector assembly, is that the book support may be moved toward or away from a user reclining in a bed without altering the angle of inclination, by simply moving one lever with respect to the other through parallel planes. Moreover, the connector assembly permits the lever arms to be locked in a desired angular relation.
Yet, another object to the present invention is to provide a book holder having a relatively simple construction, which is light in weight and easy to mount in position for use.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a book holder of the foregoing type having book supporting arms for maintaining the book in an open position with opposing pages spaced apart by approximately 120.degree. thus avoiding excessive damage to a bookbinding and placing the pages in a more convenient position for use.
Yet, another object of the present invention is to provide a book holder having a lamp or illuminating means mounted on a separate bracket so as to be independently useful from the book holder.
Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings to be described more fully hereinafter.